The Messenger and Magic

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

The Messenger and Magic (1/3)

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Sha’rawi



In discussing the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and magic, it must be stated, before we look at any hadith on the subject, that all the Messengers of Allah were human and that all human beings are subject to the laws which govern humanity. That is why when Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! - wanted to manifest the incapacity of His creatures in the face of His Strength and Power, He gave them power over one of His Messengers and then made them powerless to touch him.
An example of this is when the people of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, decided to bum him in the fire. This was an attempt on their part to bum one of the Messengers of Allah. It would have been possible for Allah to save Ibrahim by any number of ways. He could have concealed him from the eyes of the unbelievers so that they did not see him. He could have shown him a safe place to conceal himself where they would not find him or where it would it not have occurred to them to look. Or the unbelievers could have brought him to the fire and then Allah could have made the rain pour down and put the fire out and have saved Ibrahim in that way. But Allah Almighty allowed the unbelievers to find Ibrahim, seize him, and throw him into the fire, and He also let the fire bum and did not send down any rain to extinguish it. Then the miracle was accomplished. Allah Almighty says:
"We said, 'O Fire, be coolness and peace for lbrahim!'" (Surah Al-Anbiya', 21:69)
This happened so that the people - all people - would know that Ibrahim, peace be upon him, had been placed by the unbelievers in the fire and that the fire did not burn him. Ibrahim was a mortal, subject to the laws of humanity. When he was thrown in the fire, it should have burned him. If, for instance, Ibrahim had been an angel, it would have been possible for the fire not to burn him. The guardians of Jahannam are angels. Allah Almighty says:
"...continually scorching the flesh. Over it there are nineteen. We have designated none but angels to be masters of the Fire." (Surah Al-Muddathir, 74:29-31)
We know from this that angels are not burned by fire. That is why if Ibrahim had been an angel, it would not have been a miracle for him to be thrown into the fire and not be burned.
Musa, peace be upon him, was the Prophet of Allah and him to whom Allah spoke directly. Allah wanted him to face the test of the magicians. So He prepared him for what would happen. Allah taught him about miracles and magic. The miracle was that his staff turned into a real snake, its nature truly changing from wood to snake. That is why Allah Almighty asked him to throw down his staff:
“We said, 'Throw it down, Musa.' He threw it down and there it was, a slithering snake." (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:19-20)
This was training for the miracle to show him that his staff would be transformed into a real snake when Musa cast it down in front of the magicians. Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! - wanted Musa not to be startled by that and not to be alarmed or afraid. He was instructing him about what was going to happen. Then Allah also instructed him about the magic which the magicians would confront him with:
"'Throw down your staff!' Then when he saw it slithering like a snake, he turned his back and did not turn round again." (Surah Al-Qasas, 28:31)
The important thing to look at here is the expression of Allah Almighty, "like a snake". This time the staff did not in fact turn into a snake, but Musa, peace be upon him, saw it as if it was a snake. This was instruction about the magic of the magicians who … would make Musa see their ropes appear as snakes.


Musa and Magic
In this way Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! instructed Musa in a practical way before he met the magicians about what would happen to him: both about the miracle of the transformation of the staff into a real snake and also about the magic which would be shown to him when he met Pharaoh's magicians. But what happened when Musa confronted Pharaoh's magicians? The Almighty says:
"He said, 'No, you throw!' And suddenly their ropes and staffs appeared to him by their magic, to be slithering about." (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:66)
Here we must note the words of Allah Almighty, "appeared to him," referring to Musa, peace be upon him. It appeared to him that the staffs and ropes which Pharaoh's magicians threw had been transformed into snakes. In other words the magicians had bewitched Musa's eyes so that he saw the ropes and staffs, which they had thrown in the form of snakes. He did not see them as the ropes and staffs that they actually were. This is corroborated by the words of Allah Almighty:
"Musa felt in himself a feeling of alarm." (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:68)
In other words Musa himself felt afraid. This is an indication that his eyes had been bewitched. If he had seen the ropes and staffs of Pharaoh's magicians as the ropes and staffs that they really were, he would not have felt alarmed. Why should he feel fear when he saw staffs and ropes cast down in front of him and they remained as they were without their nature changing? He must, therefore, have seen them in the form in which the magicians of Pharaoh wanted them to appear to him. No transformation did in fact take place but Musa imagined that the ropes and staffs had been changed into snakes. The sorcerers of Pharaoh had bewitched his eyes. Because he was the Messenger of Allah, Allah Almighty sustained him:
"We said, 'Have no fear. You will have the upper hand. Throw down what is in your right hand. It will swallow up what they have done. They have only done a magician's trick. Magicians do not prosper wherever they go?" (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:68-69)
Thus although the eyes of Musa were bewitched, Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! - braced him with revelation and told him not to fear, but to cast his staff so that the miracle would take place. That still happened despite the fact that Allah had instructed Musa about what would happen with the magicians, both in respect of the miracle of the transformation of the staff into a snake and the illusion which would occur. This is not in any sense a shortcoming. Musa was a mortal Messenger, and he was subject to the laws of his humanness -but he was also supported and sustained by Allah Almighty.


The Hadith of Magic
Now we come to the Messenger of Allah Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. AI-Bukhari relates in his Sahih collection (10: 192) and Muslim in his Sahih collection (4:1719) from A’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said;
"The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was bewitched by one of the Jews of Banu Zurayq called Labid ibn al-A'sam. So the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, began to imagine that he had done something when he had not. One day -or night -the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made supplication for a long period and then said, 'O 'A'isha, are you aware that Allah has informed me about the matter I asked him about? Two men came to me. One of them sat at my head and the other at my feet. The one who was at my head asked the one who was at my feet (or vice versa), "What is wrong with the man?" The other man said, "He is under the effect of magic." He asked, "Who has bewitched him?" He said, "Labid ibn al-A'sam." He said, "What was it done with?" He replied, "With a comb and the hair stuck to it and the skin of the pollen of a male date-palm." He said, "Where is it?" He said, "In the well of Dhi Arwan."
"The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went to that well with some of his Companions. Then he said, 'O 'A'isha, by Allah, its water was red like an infusion of henna and its date-palms were like the heads of shaytans.' 'Messenger of Allah, did you burn it?' He replied, 'No. Allah has cured me and I disliked to let evil spread among the people, so I ordered that the well be filled in.’”
So ends the hadith which is related in al-Bukhari and Muslim about what happened to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This hadith has provoked much debate among scholars.
What is important is the documentation of the hadith. As for the fact that magic was worked on the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, there is nothing particularly significant in that. It is in fact a response to the Challenge issued by Allah in His Book. Allah Almighty challenges men and jinn in the Noble Qur'an when He says:
"Say: 'If both men and jinn had banded together in order to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could never have produced its like, even if they backed each other up.'" (Surah Al-Isra', 17:88)


And the Almighty also says:
"Or do they say, 'He has fabricated it'? Say: 'Then produce a surah like it and call on anyone you can apart from Allah if you are being truthful.'" (Surah Yunus, 10:38)

(Continued)

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

The Messenger and Magic (2/3)

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Sha’rawi


The Challenge to Men and Jinn
The challenge in the Noble Qur'an is thus addressed to both men and jinn. What did men do? What did the jinn do? Men resisted the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, harmed him and opposed him and tortured the believers and proclaimed enmity to the Deen and tried to stop people from believing. They plotted to murder the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but Allah made their actions in all of this come to nothing. Thus men failed both in their open enmity and injury and also in their secret conspiring and plotting.
The only option that remained for them was to use another, greater, power. It had to be greater and stronger than any human power because all the powers of man had failed in their attempt to frustrate the call to the Deen of Allah and to plot against His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. This power was that of the jinn. Allah Almighty wanted to confront them with a similar failure in respect of the power of the jinn so that all people might know that neither the strength of man nor that of the jinn would ever succeed in overcoming the Messenger of Allah.
Therefore they sought the assistance of magic. Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! - indicated to the Messenger of Allah that they had bewitched him, and guided him to the place where the spell was hidden and informed him how the magic was carried out. He did so in order that the whole world might know that no creature had any power over Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, whether they openly declared their enmity or concealed that enmity and plotted to kill him, or sought the help of another species, the jinn. Allah Almighty, who sent him, revealed to him what had happened and nullified the devices of all those who plotted, whether man or jinn.
Not an Indictment but a Challenge
Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was bewitched by the Jews, This is not any kind of indictment of him but rather a challenge to men and jinn to do their worst against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah Almighty included the jinn in the challenge in relation to the Qur'an and the Path of Islam.
It must be realised from these noble ayats which challenge men and jinn that the real challenge is accomplished in respect of the faculties of the jinn. They tried to harm the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and failed. This was known. It was not for men alone but for jinn and men because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent to both jinn and men. So everyone must be shown that the devices of both men and jinn together will not harm him at all.
If this magic had been a hidden event and had not been made public with people being aware of it, they could have said that the Qur'an had challenged men and jinn and that whereas men had taken up the challenge and failed, the jinn had not taken it up. Perhaps if they had taken up the challenge, they would have been successful. So Allah -glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! wanted to establish for all to see that if the jinn took up the challenge they too would fail.
The Miracle of the Hijra
We must note the fact that men and jinn plotted against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on several occasions, and that the plot to kill the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the eve of the hijra was a plot hatched by various groups of the shaytans, both among men and jinn, who all participated in it. Allah Almighty wanted to challenge all who plotted in secret against the Messenger of Allah.
It had to be that the Divine Power preserving the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would be apparent. Allah Almighty did not wish to conceal His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in a safe place where the unbelievers could not reach him. So He had him remain in his house and the unbelievers knew that he was in his house. Nor did Allah Almighty wish His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to leave the house before the arrival of the strong men who had been chosen to carry out the plot to assassinate him. Those men arrived and surrounded the house of the Messenger of Allah while he was in it. So all the components of the plot were in place.
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asleep in his house and the men who had come to kill him were surrounding the house. Then what happened? The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came out of his house and Allah took away sight from the eyes of the men who had come to kill the Messenger of Allah and made them fall asleep. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took a handful of dust and threw it in their faces and said, "The faces are disfigured." But none of them moved and none of them was aware that the Messenger of Allah had gone between them on his way to the cave.

Such was the Divine miracle which constituted the real challenge to the unbelievers. If the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had been concealed in a place they did not know, they could have said, "If we had found him, we would have killed him." If he had left his house before the unbelievers who were ready to kill him had arrived, they could have said, "If we had reached him while he was in his house, we would have killed him." They knew where he was and he was asleep in is bed but they were still unable to kill him and he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, left safe and sound.
Magic is Powerless
The same is also true of magic. If they had not sought the help of magic and the jinn, they would have said, "If we, had sought the help of magic, we would have defeated him." If Allah Almighty had nullified magic before that occurred, they could have said, "If magic had not been nullified, it would have been a different story."
But Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! - willed that they should seek the help of sorcery and the jinn and that the eyes of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, should be bewitched, just as the eyes of Musa were bewitched before him. Then Allah Almighty guided him to the place where the magic was to bring it to naught and showed him the one who carried out the magic so that all the Muslims would see it and know what had transpired.
So it can be seen that this question, far from being to the detriment of the Messenger 'of Allah, in fact serves to confirm him. It confirms for us that the jinn took up the challenge against the noble Messenger and that Allah Almighty helped him against them.
However the magic to which our noble Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was exposed, was in itself the same kind of magic as that to which Musa was exposed. It is the magic of creating an appearance which only affects the eye and does not affect the intellect or the heart or the rest of the limbs of the body: in other words, it was an illusion.
Hopefully this will have served to bring about correct understanding of the story of the sorcery used against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
After that we come to what Allah Almighty says about the harm of magic:
"They do not harm anyone by it, except with the permission of Allah.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:102)
We can see by this that Allah Almighty has been merciful to His slaves, and that even if He gives some of His creation the power to seek the help of the shaytans' in their attempt to cause people harm, He has reserved for Himself the permission to actually cause harm. He asks us to seek refuge with Him from magic. We have formulated a supplication incorporating the text of the ayat which mentions it as protection against magic and envy.

(Continued)

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

The Messenger and Magic (3/3)

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Sha’rawi




A Supplication for Protection against Magic and Envy
"O Allah, You have given some of Your creatures the power to use magic and do evil, but You have reserved for Yourself the permission to harm. I seek refuge with You from the harm whose infliction You have reserved for Yourself, by Your words, 'They do not harm anyone by it, except with the permission of Allah.'"
If people ask how it is possible for magic to be ineffective, we reply that examples of this happen all the time in normal life. Let us suppose that a man wants to kill me. Allah may have enabled him to purchase the gun to kill me with and to learn how to shoot. He may even have put me together with him in a deserted place where there are no witnesses. However even with all these means at his disposal, does that give him the power to kill me? No, it does not. His hand might shake at the moment he shoots and the bullets miss me. I might move to the right or left by Allah's inspiring me, and the bullet miss. He might tum suddenly or suddenly jump, or a dog suddenly bark and frighten him. Any of these or a thousand other things might happen to prevent my death taking place.
There are many examples of this kind of thing happening. Do we not hear about murderers who go to kill someone and then err in the darkness and kill someone else by mistake? Or they try to strike a certain person and another person comes in between because of the quarrel between them, and the blow does not reach the one for whom it was intended at all.
From this we should understand quite clearly that the mere fact that the means for something to happen is in place does not necessarily mean that the thing will happen because above all causes is the will of the Causer. It is that and that alone which makes the thing occur or not occur, however comprehensive the means.
A ship might sink and the means be there for every passenger to drown, but Allah may will that one or two persons find a barrel which takes them to the shore. A house might collapse and kill everyone in it, but a beam of wood protects the life of a man sleeping under it. A house might collapse on a group of inhabitants and some rescue men arrive and bring out some of them alive and some of them dead although they all lived in the same house and they were exposed to the same circumstances.
Thousands of other examples attest to the fact that Allah is the Doer when the means are unseen.
Action Belongs to Allah Alone
A man might be in the furthest possible place from danger. Then a stray bullet comes from no one knows where and kills him. He might enter a place, such as a cave or basement, to protect himself from a possible danger such as someone attacking him and injuring him. In that place he finds a snake or a wild animal which kills him. Or perhaps the owner of the basement where he has taken refuge thinks he is a thief and therefore shoots him. So he sought refuge from a possible danger but came face to face with a real one.
A believer must always remember that his power is limited and that it is only the power of Allah which has no limits. He should not be subject to the illusion that any man or shay tan has the power to inflict harm on him or injure him apart from the power of Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted!
Allah Almighty calls our attention to the fact that magic or lack of magic will not harm anyone except with the permission of Allah, saying:
"They have learned what will harm them and bring them no benefit. They know that anyone who deals in it will have no share in the Next World. How evil the thing that they have sold themselves/or, if they did but know!" (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:102)
We have discussed the fact that magic harms both the magician and the bewitched. We made it clear how the magician is afflicted by disasters and dies humiliated, filled with bitterness, sorrow, alienation, poverty, and complete disappointment. The two angels who taught people magic told any who desired to learn from them,
"We are a trial, so do not disbelieve."
But unjust, ignorant man insisted on learning magic, thinking that he was getting something from which much wealth could be gained. He did not know that he had sold himself for an evil price and that he had taken on harm and lost this world and the Next.
Magic does not increase man's opportunities. Rather it leads to disbelief and leads to the loss of this world and the Next. That is why Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! - calls our attention to the fact that those who practise magic have purchased the vilest thing in this world and sold themselves in order to receive rejection, poverty and the punishment of the Next World.
We have discussed the example of sorcery to which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was exposed and made it clear that Musa, peace be upon him, was also bewitched when he confronted Pharaoh's magicians and that Allah Almighty supported him; and that the question of our Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, being exposed to magic was part of the fullness of the challenge of this Deen in respect of the jinn. Allah showed His Messenger who had carried out the magic and the place where it was, and that this confirms the Messenger rather than disparaging him in any way.
We have made it clear that Allah Almighty has reserved the permission to harm by magic for Himself alone and therefore that no harm occurs from the magician to the bewitched except by the permission of Allah.
It remains for us to discuss one other unseen force which is hidden from us but about which Allah - glory be to Him and may He be Exalted! - has cautioned us: and that is envy.